Global Links

Global Learning at Cockton Hill Junior School

At CHJS, we believe that developing our children as global citizens is vitally important. We have partner schools in many countries of the world and are currently working towards our International Schools Award which is awarded by the British Council and recognises what schools achieve in fostering and embracing a global dimension in all that they do.

Our international partner schools:

• Year 3 have a link with Alpha Boarding School in Nepal
• Year 4 have a link with Ecole Faubourg de Hem in France
• Year 5 have a link with Vijay International School in Seychelles.
• Year 6 have a link with Colegio Ecos in Brazil

As we complete projects in partnership with our link schools, we will update and add our work to ‘Our International Work’ blog so keep checking for updates.

RRSA Article Links

Article 28: All children have the right to a good quality education.

Article 29: All children have the right to an education, which develops talents and abilities.

Article 42: All children have the right to know about their rights.

Our International Work

Connecting Classrooms

We recently secured funding through Connecting Classrooms to allow Mrs Stevens and Miss Trow to visit Alpha Boarding School (ABS) in Nepal. Mrs Stevens and Miss Trow travelled ABS. They flew from Newcastle to Dubai and then from Dubai to Kathmandu and finally from Kathmandu to Pokhara. The staff and children at the school were very friendly and asked lots of questions. They enjoyed looking at all of the work children at CHJS has prepared for them. Staff were able to share lots of learning about education in both countries and compare similarities and differences. They were very lucky to be a part of ABS’s presentation assembly, observe lessons, share lunch with staff and pupils and teach an English lesson to pupils. Here are some pictures from their time in Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4H Finding Differences in Nepal

Mrs Stevens came to 4H to teach us all about her visit to Nepal with Miss Trow. We started our lesson by working in groups and looking at a range of photographs, writing what we noticed about them and any questions we had. We showed that we are very inquisitive in 4H and asked some fantastic questions, thinking carefully about how life in Nepal is different to life in the UK. We discussed these questions and discovered lots of new things. Thank you for sharing with us Mrs Stevens!

Trip to Nepal

Mrs Stevens and Miss Trow are visiting Nepal to view a school and see how they learn. 6H have created a booklet consisting of non-chronological reports and badges full of information about CHJ. Written by Raiyan, 6H.

 

 

 

 

 

Traditional Tales

To follow on from our Connecting Classrooms visit, Year 3 planned a project around storytelling in partnership with Alpha Boarding School. The children began by writing letters to introduce themselves. They then choose two popular traditional tales to share with the children in Nepal. They choose Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk. We shared these stories orally and created story books to send to ABS. We very much look forward to receiving some traditional tales from Nepal.

Introductions and sharing art with Brazil

Pupils in Year 6 produced artwork to share with Colegio Ecos. The children were provided with half photographs of their faces and used their art skills to complete the drawing of the other half. These were then sent to Brazil to introduce themselves. Alongside this, pupils wrote acrostic poems about themselves to introduce facts about them, including their likes and dislikes. Children have received emails, photos and letters from Colegio Ecos allowing them to compare similarities and differences between England and Brazil.

UNICEF Outright Campaign

Article 22: You have the right to special protection and help is you are a refugee.

The whole school took part in the UNICEF Outright campaign which is focused on the rights of refugee children. Children completed a project where they developed their knowledge and understanding of children’s rights, learned about the impact of the refugee crisis on children’s right to protection and right to family reunification and finally campaigned to our local MP to fix the family reunion laws. This project empowers pupils to speak out about the importance of children’s rights. We started the project on World Children’s Day through an assembly introducing the Outright campaign to our school. This explained to children why it is important for children and young people to get involved. We then read the story of Paddington Bear and discussed the theme of family separation and thought of any questions which we had about child refugees. We then focused on learning about two articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and how these two rights affect refugee children in the UK today, and refugee children trying to reach family in the UK. We looked at the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ and discussed what people may think when they hear these words. This led us to a discussion about thinking critically about things we hear in the news and other places about refugees. We played a thumbs up thumbs down game to discuss which statements were true and which were lies. We thought about the challenges, difficulties and dangers that refugees face internationally and the UK.

Interfaith Week

Article 30: You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion.

As part of Interfaith Week, we looked at the importance and understanding of diversity and differences in religious beliefs. We each made a peace mala bracelet to reflect on the importance of tolerance and diversity.  We discussed the statement ‘Treat others as you would wish them to treat you’. We enjoyed making our peace mala bracelets and learning about the different religious represented by each colour bead.

Fairtrade

Article 2: The Convention applies to everyone whatever their race, religion and abilities.

Article 24: You have the right to good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, a clean safe environment and information to help you stay well.

Pupils celebrated Fairtrade fortnight beginning with an assembly to introduce and remind pupils of the importance of Fairtrade. This allowed us to share issues that face our global society, where our food comes from, interconnectedness, sustainable development and the power of the individual. Children explored the meaning of Fairtrade and why we should buy Fairtrade products. Children then took their learning home and completed a range of activities to show their understanding of protecting the rights of farmers, ensuring a fair income and good working conditions. Pupils completed activities such as: writing an acrostic poem about Fairtrade, creating a Wordle, designing a T-shirt, making a new logo, making smoothies using Fairtrade fruit and exploring shops in our local area which sell Fairtrade products. Here are some photos of some of our work:

 

European Awareness

We linked up with Ecole Faubourg de Hem to enrich our French curriculum. Children have studied the language and culture of France and explored the similarities and differences between French and British cultures. Children learn to understand and speak the French language around a range of topics progressing as they go through school (e.g. greetings, school, food and local area). Pupils have used the language to introduce their local area where some children drew a map and labelled key features in French and other pupils developed a paragraph of writing about their local area. Children have also explored French cuisine and produced menus including these.

Indian Dance

Through PE pupils in Year 4 have explored Indian dance. They began by creating a group dance inspired by a classical Indian dance style. They explored images and videos of traditional moves which they used to inspire them of how to move. After exploring professional dances in the Bollywood style pupils wrote down keywords to describe the dance style thinking about: size of steps, directions, levels, speeds, parts of the body used, costumes and music.

Commonwealth

Article 2: The Convention applies to everyone whatever their race, religion and abilities.

Children in Year 3 participated in the Commonwealth Class project to celebrate the Commonwealth Games. This helped children explore the world beyond their classroom and learn more about the Commonwealth values. Children explored the Commonwealth firstly through an assembly on Commonwealth Day where they were given information about what the Commonwealth is. hey explored the countries in the Commonwealth through a quiz where they had to identify the countries and guess the connection between them. We looked at the history and the current work of the Commonwealth. They used the ipads to explore and carry out some research on a Commonwealth country of their choice exploring the landmarks, capital city and languages spoken.